If you are a U.S. citizen and your fiance is not a U.S. citizen who
stays outside the U.S. and if you plan to get married in the U.S., you can obtain a fiance visa for him/her.

K1 visa:
The K1 fiance(e) nonimmigrant visa entitles the visa applicant to enter the U.S. to marry an American
citizen.

K2 visa:
Unmarried children, under 21 years, of a K1 applicant derive K2 nonimmigrant visa status from
the K1 parent if the children's names have been included in the K1 visa petition. A separate petition
is not required if the children accompany or follow the K1 applicant within 1 year from the date the
K1 applicant is issued his/her K1 visa. To be eligible for K2 visa status the child(ren) must be
unmarried, eligible to be listed under the K1 applicant's visa classification and under the age of 21
at the time the child(ren) enter the U.S.
After the child enters the U.S.,
the stepparent/stepchild relationship for a U.S. citizen petitioner and K2 child
must be created before the child reaches the age of 18.

Consulate interview
Alien fiance and his/her children below 21 years of age go through
consulate interview process.

In rare instances, some couples may have to attend a fraud interview if the government has any
doubts whether the intended marriage is a real one.

After Arriving in the U.S.

The marriage must take place within 90 days of your fiance entering the U.S. If the marriage
does not take place within 90 days or your fiance marries someone other than you (the petitioner),
your fiance will be required to leave the U.S.
Until the marriage takes place, your fiance is a
nonimmigrant. It is not possible to extend the
fiance visa beyond original 90 days duration.

It is best to get married as soon as possible after entering the U.S. as getting a marriage certificate
takes time and it is required to apply for
Adjustment of Status.

If you could not get married within 90 days for unexpected reasons and if you still want to get
married, get married as soon as possible. However, your spouse would need to file
Form I-130 along with
Form I-485, Adjustment of Status application.
Don't leave the United States if you are late by 6 months or more as you would be subject to 3 years
(more than 180 days illegally) or 10 years (more than 1 year illegally) bars for re-entering the US.

If you are late in getting married and filing a green card application, and USCIS catches you and puts
you into removal proceedings, you will have to file the green card in immigration court. Application
paperwork is the same, but the immigration judge will look harder at your case to make sure that the
marriage is bona fide, and you had genuine reasons for the delay.

After marriage:
After marriage, your fiance (now your spouse) can apply for an
Adjustment of Status to be able to live
and work permanently in the U.S. If your fiance does not want to become a permanent resident
after marriage, your fiance (now your spouse) must leave the U.S. within the original 90 days duration.

If you file the the application immediately after arrival, but before filing for Adjustment of Status (AOS), this EAD will expire
when your K-1 visa expires within 90 days. However, because of the wait time to get EAD itself is more
than 90 days. Therefore, it is a waste of time and money to apply before applying for Adjustment of Status.
If you still want to apply, the filing category is (a)(6).

You can apply for EAD at the same time as filing for AOS or after filing AOS. This procedure is same
for all other applicants applying for AOS.

Social Security Number:
K1 visa holders can get a social security number upon producing a
valid unexpired I-94. Apply two weeks after arrival in the U.S. so that Social Security Administration(SSA)
can verify your information in the SAVE-ASVI database. If you apply too soon, they may have to do a manual
verification by filing
Form G-845 with the USCIS which may add several weeks of delay.
Also, do not wait too long as many SSA offices will not allow you to file for a SSN if your I-94 is about
to expire within 14 days. Of course, it is also possible to apply after you get EAD.

Along with all other documents, carry
RM 00203.500: Employment Authorization for Nonimmigrants just in case the staff at SSA is not aware
that the K1 visa holder is eligible to get a SSN.

Carry your marriage certificate to the social security office to get the social security card in
the new name. If you applied for a social security number before marriage, you can go back to the social
security office after marriage to get your name changed in the social security card.

The social security card will be marked "VALID FOR ONLY WITH USCIS AUTHORIZATION". That means, you need
to get EAD first before you can actually work.

Travel outside the U.S.:
The fiance visa (K1/K2) allows a fiance to enter the U.S. only once. If you leave the U.S. after entering on a
fiance visa, you may not re-enter on the same visa and you will need a new visa.